Mike Spinelli

We have a weird tic when it comes to covering Seat's cars. Despite the model's fans around the world (you Ibiza-hopping k-hole jockeys know who you are), we always look past VW's Spanish-born brand as if it was a transparent turkey sandwich. Thus is the case with the Altea XL, which the company revealed yesterday. It's a five-seater high-box hatch (sorry, MPV?) set to debut at the Paris auto show. The XL version has more cargo capacity than the base model Altea, a car so homely it's been known to cause queasiness just by coming within five blocks of a tapas bar. No, seriously, we kid the Altea XL. May its days be filled with sunshine and small oranges, and its larger cargo area filled with serving platters of savory rice dishes and not too many Europeans on holiday.